In this work, Leila Tarazi Fawaz exposes the human side of conflict. She does this by exploring the stories and experiences of a diverse group of people through World War I, focusing on the Middle East—an area which is often overlooked in this regard. In particular, the topics of living conditions during World War I, the economic impact on businessmen, the experience of soldiers, and the role of South Asians in the war, as well as others, are explored. Fawaz is able to portray human experience which is often lost in the numbers, or ignored. Using primary sources such as memoirs, Fawaz constructs the narratives and provides photographic documentation such that readers feel they are in the midst of the event, and thus able to empathize with the experiences of those who were in the midst of battle and those who were impacted by the side effects of war. Fawaz does a service to humanity by humanizing and relating the stories and experiences of those often forgotten in the shadows of war.